“Bastard! Scoundrel!”
Kendra chased Darnell around the room with no decorum, trying to kick him in the groin. Luckily, Darnell dodged quickly, or he would have been impotent.
“Stand still!”
Bella and Keith didn’t know what had happened, but seeing Darnell lively and jumping around, completely different from the near-death state they saw when they opened the door, they could guess that he was just pretending. Otherwise, things wouldn’t be like this now.
Realizing this, they both became furious.
Not only had Darnell insulted their intelligence, but he also stole Kendra’s first kiss.
Bella grabbed an electric baton and joined in chasing Darnell, while Keith tried to block him.
Unfortunately, Darnell was as slippery as an eel. Even with seven or eight people surrounding him, they couldn’t catch him.
Bella’s electric baton missed four times, not only failing to knock down Darnell but also shocking two officers who screamed in pain. One strike even hit Keith’s buttocks, making him jump. This caused their efforts to capture Darnell to fall apart as everyone feared getting shocked by Bella.
Kendra’s face darkened as she drew her gun, effectively stopping Darnell in his tracks.
The consequence of underestimating Kendra was being thrown into a detention center, where she intended to thoroughly break Darnell’s spirit. However, she had taken Bella with her.
“You two, take Darnell over there. Make sure the staff treats him well. He’s a VIP,” Keith commanded.
At Keith’s signal, the two officers who had previously spoken with James personally escorted Darnell to the detention center.
Two hours later, after being thoroughly searched and completing the necessary paperwork, Darnell was thrown into a shared cell meant for twenty inmates.
Initially, Kendra had intended for Darnell to stay in a solitary cell for reflection, but fate had led him to this communal space instead…
Darnell knew without a doubt that James and Keith were behind this.
James’s gun had jammed. Although there was no evidence linking Darnell directly, he would undoubtedly hold Darnell responsible and seek revenge.
Moreover, the artificial respiration he had shared with Kendra had only served to infuriate Keith. If it hadn’t been for the many people present, he would likely have shot Darnell on the spot.
Clang!
The iron door slammed shut with a thud. Darnell could feel the predatory gazes of the other inmates in the dimly lit cell, as if he had been thrown into a den of wolves.
The hostile atmosphere typical of a prison began to envelop him. The sound of footsteps grew louder, as the inmates, eager to “welcome” the new arrival, approached.
The lights outside were turned on by the officers, illuminating the cell. Darnell took a moment to survey his surroundings, realizing it was a large dormitory-style cell housing over twenty prisoners, compared to the row of solitary cells across the way.
At that moment, the inmates were curiously sizing him up. The officer escorting him exchanged a few words with a scarred man.
With a warning from the escorting officer, the scarred man’s gaze turned inscrutable as he watched Darnell. He then retreated to his bunk, whispering to a few others gathered around him.
Darnell chose to ignore them, focusing instead on a middle-aged man sitting in the corner.
Though the man was trying to suppress his presence, Darnell could sense the aura of a strong individual.
His first impression of this man, despite his tall stature, was that he had the demeanor of a scholar.
Perhaps it was fairer to say that he was an intellectual at heart. Even though he was in prison and likely had blood on his hands, he still carried the essence of a learned man.
Upon noticing the bald man with two guards nearby, Darnell was even more convinced of the middle-aged man’s significance. This was no ordinary individual.
Darnell gritted his teeth slightly. He hadn’t expected to encounter such a figure in prison.
However, he did not take any action. As long as the man didn’t provoke him for no reason, there was no need to stir up trouble.
With that in mind, he placed the toiletries he had received on a bench and began dusting off an empty bunk.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash.
The mouthwash cup he had just set on the bench was kicked away.
Having been mentally prepared for this, Darnell wasn’t surprised. In a place governed by the law of the jungle, only the strong could survive. He turned to see a stocky guy with a buzz cut, towering over him and standing there with a smug grin, arms crossed.
“New guy, what’s your name?”
“Darnell!”
Darnell replied honestly, then added with a smile, “Sir, I’m new here. Please take care of me.”
“Darnell?”
The tall guy smirked, baring his teeth as he looked at Darnell like a piece of meat ready for the chopping block, ready to be used for amusement by him and his buddies.
He stepped forward and planted his foot on Darnell’s bunk, pointing a finger at Darnell’s chest and barking, “Do you know the rules? You can’t just leave your stuff lying around here without our boss’s permission!”
Darnell feigned fear, asking, “Who might your boss be?”
The tall guy gestured behind him, indicating the scarred man he had just been speaking to. “That’s my boss.”
Darnell followed the finger and saw the scarred man glaring at him from his bunk.
Before Darnell could say anything, the scarred man coldly spoke, “This kid doesn’t know the rules. He didn’t even greet us when he came in. We need to teach him a lesson.”
“Someone, bring over that basin of foot-soaking water.”
“Yes, sir!”
Under the scarred man’s orders, two others quickly brought over a basin of water. The tall guy stepped forward with a sneer.
“Kid, our boss has spoken. You’ve made him unhappy. You’d better drink this foot-soaking water to calm him down.”
“If you don’t drink, we’ll resort to violence…”
He grinned maliciously, “I’ll personally make sure you get fed.”
Darnell put on a pained expression. “Brothers, I’m just a waste of space. I’m sick with tuberculosis. I can’t drink that much water.”
“What if I die in the process? Wouldn’t that just bring trouble to all of you?”
He coughed heavily, his body shaking, and a trickle of red liquid dribbled from his mouth, giving the impression that he could drop dead at any moment.
Seeing him in such a pitiful state, the nearby inmates instinctively backed away, covering their mouths in fear of infection.
The tall guy also jumped back, a look of panic on his face. “You have tuberculosis?!”
“Yeah, I’ve been sick for three years. I went bankrupt trying to treat it, and out of desperation, I resorted to robbery, which led to my arrest,” Darnell sighed. “But it turns out that it’s not all bad here. At least the food, lodging, and medical care are covered.”
The tall guy’s face turned even uglier. “You… get away from me!”
“Ricky, are you stupid?”
The scarred man shouted, “Did the cops really toss a tuberculosis patient in here? This kid is playing you for a fool! Show him some consequences!”
The tall guy and his friends paused for a moment, then erupted in fury, rolling up their sleeves to beat Darnell.
In an instant, Darnell grabbed the basin of foot-soaking water and splashed it towards the overhead light.
With a loud pop, the light bulb short-circuited and exploded, sending everyone ducking for cover in a panic.